1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to modular construction systems and, more particularly, to construction systems which employ a plurality of connectable modular units which can be assembled by amateur builders to construct modular structures having various structural configurations with improved wind load resistance. The present invention also relates to methods for constructing modular structures using the modular units.
2. Background Information
The construction of building structures has been primarily carried out by large professional construction companies and/or builders. Both skilled and unskilled labor has been required to employ the various conventional methods for construction of building structures, which increases the overall construction cost. Furthermore, due to the requirement for skilled labor, the construction of conventional building structures has not been able to be completely realized by amateur builders.
Moreover, the construction of conventional building structures often requires more than one worker for handling the various construction components due to their large size and weight. Additionally, the safety of construction workers is often compromised since most operations in conventional building construction methods must be carried out from the exterior of the building structures.
Many of the modern buildings are being constructed with modular units, which greatly facilitates the construction of the building by reducing costly amounts of skilled and unskilled labor as well as reducing the amount of construction time. However, these modular units are quite costly and not universally adaptable to a wide variety of applications.
Japanese Patent Application No. 8-340646, filed Dec. 4, 1996 by the present inventors (now JP-A-10-169078, dated Jun. 23, 1998) and corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,014,842, discloses a method for constructing a building structure using wood blocks. However, such construction method suffers from the drawback that when the wood blocks are large in size (e.g., the height of the building structure above ground level is increased), the resistance of the building structure to pressures exerted by wind is decreased.
The present invention is directed to a set of modular units, modular structures constructed of the modular units, and a method for constructing the modular structures, which overcome the foregoing drawbacks of the conventional art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a set of modular units which is not expensive to manufacture and which is adaptable to a wide variety of modular structures.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a set of modular units which can be readily assembled by amateur builders to construct modular structures in a relatively short period of time.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a set of modular units each of which is of a configuration, size and weight so as to enable a single amateur builder with minimum amounts of skill to transport and manipulate the same during construction of modular structures.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a set of modular units which can be readily assembled by amateur builders to construct modular structures using only a minimum z number of simple connection elements and which does not require special tools for the assembly.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a set of modular units which can be assembled to construct modular structures with improved wind load resistance.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a modular structure which utilizes modular units to provide a final framework capable of assuming nearly any shape or size.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of constructing a modular structure which reduces costly amounts of skilled and unskilled labor and which reduces the amount of construction time.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a modular building structure and a construction method therefor in which all of the assembly operations, except for the construction of a roof structure, can be performed from the interior of the building structure.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are carried out by a modular unit system comprising a plurality of generally different modular unit sets each having a plurality of identical modular units. The modular units of at least one of the modular unit sets have a ladder-like configuration. The modular units of each modular unit set have connecting surfaces each for connection to a corresponding connecting surface of at least one identical modular unit or to a corresponding connecting surface of at least one of the modular units of another of the modular unit sets to construct a modular structure having a predetermined configuration.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a modular structure construction comprising a plurality of generally different modular unit sets each having a plurality of identical modular units, the modular units of each modular unit set having connecting surfaces, and means interconnecting each connecting surface of each modular unit of each modular unit set to a corresponding connecting surface of at least one other identical modular unit or to a corresponding connecting surface of one of the modular units of another of the modular unit sets to define the modular structure. The modular units of at least one of the modular unit sets have a ladder-like configuration.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a building system comprising a building having a foundation, at least one wall structure, and at least one floor structure for supporting the wall structure on the foundation. The wall structure and the floor structure comprise a plurality of generally different modular unit sets each having a plurality of identical modular units. The modular units of at least one of the modular unit sets have a ladder-like configuration. The modular units of each modular unit set have connecting surfaces each for connection to a corresponding connecting surface of at least one other identical modular unit or to a corresponding connecting surface of one of the modular units of another of the modular unit sets to define the wall structure and the floor structure.
In one embodiment, the plurality of modular unit sets of each of the foregoing modular unit system, the modular structure construction and the building system comprise seven modular units sets. The modular units of six of the modular unit sets have a ladder-like configuration. The modular units of the seventh modular unit set have a generally L-shaped outline.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a modular structure construction comprising a plurality of first modular units each having a ladder-like configuration and a plurality of second modular units each having a generally L-shaped outline. Each of the first and second modular units has connecting surfaces for connection to a corresponding connecting surface of at least one other of the first and second modular units to define the modular structure construction.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for constructing modular structures using the modular units according to the present invention.